WALL ST EXTENDS LOSSES; NASDAQ OFF 1 PCT

U.S. stocks extended losses on Monday, with the Nasdaq falling more than 1 percent in late morning.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 27.18 points, or 0.18 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 7.45 points, or 0.46 percent. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 34.99 points, or 1.01 percent.

** APPLE INC, $443.60, down 1.3 pct (1210 ET)

Fidelity Investments’ Contrafund, the largest active shareholder in Apple, cut its stake in the iPad and iPhone maker by a further 9 percent in April after expressing concern about heightened competition from rivals.

Apple also heads to trial on Monday in an antitrust lawsuit brought by the U.S. government accusing it of conspiring to fix prices in the ebooks market.

** D.R. HORTON INC, $23.53, down 3.4 pct (1201 ET)

** PULTEGROUP INC, $21.01, down 3 pct (1201 ET)

** TOLL BROTHERS INC, $33.05, down 3 pct (1201 ET)

** LENNAR CORP, $38.52, down 2 pct (1201 ET)

** KB HOME, $21.23, down 4 pct (1201 ET)

Construction spending in April rose 0.4 percent to an annual rate of $861 billion - a smaller-than-expected gain - supporting the view that government austerity is holding back economic growth this year, Commerce Department data showed on Monday.

** PIXELWORKS INC, $3.60, up 20 pct (1003 ET)

The company, which makes chips for digital display, said it was bringing its video display processor technology to tablets and ultrabooks. At Computex Taipei, Pixelworks will demonstrate its technology on Microsoft Corp’s Windows 8 Tablets and Ultrabooks based on Intel Corp’s 4th generation Core processors.

The stock, trading more than two times its average 10-day volume, was one of the top percentage gainers on the Nasdaq.

Barclays Capital raised its price target on the Israel-based company’s stock to $100 from $55, citing the growing strength of its business model and its increasing penetration rates in the U.S. market. Sodastream sells machines and mixes for making carbonated drinks at home.

Barclays also said Sodastream’s marketing and cost advantages all played into its long-term growth story, Barclays said.

** CRACKER BARREL OLD COUNTRY STORE INC, $95.6, up 7 pct (0935 ET)

The company, which owns the Steak ‘n Shake and Western Sizzlin restaurants, reported third-quarter results that beat market estimates as more customers visited its stores and restaurants.

Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd said it has agreed to acquire American Safety for about $306 million, in a move aimed at expanding its insurance operations in certain specialty lines.

** MERCK & CO, $48.90, up 4.7 pct (093 ET)

A Merck drug designed to unmask tumor cells and mobilize the immune system into fighting cancer helped shrink tumors in 38 percent of patients with advanced melanoma in an early-stage study, U.S. researchers said on Sunday.

Atleast two brokerages raised their price targets on the stock on Monday.

** KOPPERS HOLDINGS INC, $39.59, down 3.8 pct (1125 ET)

Analysts at Jefferies downgraded the carbon-compounds producer’s rating to “hold” from “buy”, saying the company requires a stronger earnings cycle to outperform, which may not occur till 2014.

Koppers’s carbon materials and chemicals unit is likely to face headwinds as weakness in Europe may affect supply and demand balance in other regions, particularly in North America, said analyst Laurence Alexander.

** STRATASYS LTD, $79.64, down 5 pct (1032 ET)

About 14 million shares of the 3-D printer maker will be released from lock up on June 4. After Stratasys and Israel’s Objet merged on Dec. 3 in a $1.4 billion deal, Objet shareholders received over 40 percent of Stratasys shares. Over 90 percent of those shares will be released on Tuesday.

** INFOSYS LTD, $43.60, up 4.4 pct (1041 ET)

India’s No. 2 IT services firm Infosys, grappling with disappointing results and loss of market share, has recalled founder and former chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy to act as executive chairman for five years.

** ENTRAVISION COMMUNICATIONS CORP, $4.88, up 5 pct (1026 ET)

Brokerage Noble Financial Capital raised its price target on the Spanish-language media company’s stock to $6.50 from $5.00 after the company entered into a new secured bank credit facility on Friday.

The company’s stock has risen more than 200 percent in the last six months.

** FLAMEL TECHNOLOGIES, $5.58, up 16 pct (0937 ET)

The maker of drug delivery products said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its drug Bloxiverz, which aims to reverse the effects of neuromuscular blocking agents. Flamel said it expected to launch the drug in July.

** COLONIAL PROPERTIES TRUST, $23.45, up 6 pct (0938 ET)

Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc said it would buy Colonial Properties Trust in an all-stock merger to create a Sunbelt-focused, publicly traded, multifamily real estate investment trust with a total market value of $8.6 billion.

** MATTSON TECHNOLOGY INC, $2.10, up 7 pct (1052 ET)

Smith Kenneth, director of the chipmaker, purchased 14,000 shares in the company at $2.09 on Friday for a total price of $29,204.

** CANADIAN SOLAR INC, $8.68, up 2 pct (0939 ET)

The solar panel producer said it had signed an RMB 270 million ($44.1 million) loan agreement with China Development Bank Corp to fund the construction of its 30 megawatt solar project and its ancillary facility in China.

** F5 NETWORKS INC, $79.71, down 4 pct (0939 ET)

Brokerage Morgan Stanley downgraded the network gear maker to “equal weight” from “overweight”, according to Theflyonthewall.com.

** BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB, $47.19, up 2.5 pct (0942 ET)

The pharmaceutical giant said on Friday that an experimental drug, named nivolumab, shrank tumors in 31 percent of patients with advanced melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer in an early-stage trial.

“We are raising our forecasts for nivolumab and now forecast risk-adjusted 2020 sales of $3 billion,” JP Morgan analyst Chris Schott said in a note.

** INTEL CORP, $25.20, up 4 pct

Samsung Electronics Co said on Monday it will use Intel processors to power a new version of one of its top-tier Android tablets.

FBR raised its rating on the stock to outperform from market perform, according to theflyonthewall.com. (Compiled by Sruthi Ramakrishnan)